2012 NCAA DIVISION II MEN'S BASKETBALL BRACKET
BLOOMFIELD-FRANKLIN PIERCE BOXSCORE
WORCESTER, Mass. (March 11, 2012) – Sophomore guard Terry Hicks (Neptune, N.J.) drilled a career-best seven three-point field goals and finished with a team-high 21 points Sunday night, as fifth-seeded Bloomfield College claimed a 69-60 victory over No. 1 seed Franklin Pierce University in the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball East Regional Semifinals at Laska Gym on the campus of Assumption College.
The Deacons advance to the NCAA East Regional Final for the second consecutive season, where they will face No. 2 seed Stonehill (23-8) on Tuesday night in a 7:00 p.m. (ET) tip at Assumption College. Bloomfield (26-7) has defeated five different teams from the Northeast-10 Conference in its last five NCAA Tournament wins (AIC, Stonehill, Bentley, UMass-Lowell, Franklin Pierce).
Bloomfield's attack came out firing on all cylinders in the opening stages of the contest, as they shot 53% from the field over the opening 20 minutes of play. Franklin Pierce led for the opening two minutes before a jumper by Matt Wafula (Harlem, N.Y.) gave the Deacons the lead with 17:30 remaining in the period, beginning a blistering 28-17 run to up the advantage to as high as 13 before entering halftime holding a 42-30 lead. The night belonged to Hicks from the outset, as the second-year sharpshooter buried 5-of-6 three-point attempts and went into intermission with 15 points. Wafula also posted double-figures in the first half with 11.
Franklin Pierce (22-8) erased a 12-point halftime lead for Bloomfield as it tied the score at 46 on a three-pointer by Eric Jean-Guillaume with 14:06 remaining in regulation. But the Deacons would execute a dominant stretch of basketball to close the contest, ouscoring the Ravens 23-14 over the remainder of the game to capture their second-straight berth in the East Regional Final. Bloomfield concluded the evening shooting 51% from the field, torching the Ravens from beyond the arc by hitting eight of their 11 attempts from long-range.
Four players reached double-figures in scoring for the balanced Deacons attack, with Wafula netting 18 points and six rebounds on 8-12 shooting. Senior point guard Ahmad Harris (Linden, N.J.) totaled 11 points, eight rebounds and a game-high eight assists in a trademark performance, while sophomore forward Kevin Udo (West Orange, N.J.) narrowly missed a double-double with 10 points, nine rebounds and a game-high four blocks. Sophomore Ellis Cooper paced Franklin Pierce in the loss with 22 points while Jean-Guillaume finished with 21.
